Fix for cold toes. Anyone tried bootcaps?

[Dhiler17]

The last couple years I’ve been battling with cold toes. Looking to find a solution for it before the season rolls around and wanted input from the collective.

Heated socks seem like overkill and I don’t want the hassle of charging batteries. I saw an ad for boot caps and they look promising, but $60 for a couple pieces of EVA foam seems ridiculous. Also not keen on not being able to remove them. The boot covers seem like they may work well, but I have to walk quite a ways to get to the lift and have concern about how they would hold up toots of trudging on concrete.

[aanev]

I’ve tried the following:

1. Boot gloves – maybe slow down the cooling a bit, but not really worth the hassle with buckles and adjustments.

2. Heated socks – worked fine, but I prefer regular UL socks. I could feel the wiring, so I ended up giving them to a friend.

3. Heated insoles – work very well.

4. Chemical toe warmers – also work great.

In my opinion, #3 and #4 are the best options.

[utagonian]

The most important thing is to start with warm boots in the morning. A heated boot bag makes a big difference. If you use boot gloves, make sure you use cat tracks over the top or you won’t make your first walk to the lodge without that bottom strap breaking. There are a couple of other brands of neoprene covers that try to address this a cat tracks will keep your boots from getting trashed anyway I find that book gloves. Keep my feet warm if the temperatures are over about 20° if it’s colder than that, I put a chemical warming Pouch between the book love and my boots. It helps. Also be sure to keep your core warm.

[El Chupacabra]

I mostly ski at Tahoe, where it's not that cold - - but for trips to colder places like Jackson or Big Sky, my toes freeze. I've tried:

(1) boot gloves, with chemical heat pack on top of toes under the gloves - works OK, get about 2 hrs of tolerable toe comfort.

(2) heated boot bag, warm the boots overnight and leave boots in the warm bag while driving to the ski area - awesome at first, keeps everything so toasty and easy to get the boots on. This, plus boot gloves & chemical packs, was my go to for several years.

(3) battery heated footbeds - finally bought these last year. I got the stick on heat pads, put them on my own footbeds, routed the wires through the liner and hang the battery on the power strap. I got the basic thermic ones. Last year, at least, Bobleisure had them at a good price. These, with the heated boot bag start to the day, keeps toe temps acceptable all day. Toes never really feel warm, but they never get frozen.

[waxloaf]

Heated socks, while pricey, have been great for me on very cold days. I usually only use them below 20 or so (majority of my days in Maine…). I use the Lenz ones with the big battery, which I got from a euro site last szn. I haven’t tried the boot cap thing, and I don’t see how it can be much better than some duct tape on the same spot.

I’ll sometimes use a boot glove too if the snow is hard, but don’t like them in soft snow as sometimes the snow works its way inside the glove, which causes cold and wet feet.


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[the_artist]

I got heated insoles last season and they have been amazing for nothing else other than consistency of fit regardless of temperature, my feet shrink and swell quite a bit depending on temps.

[gregL]

Heated socks, while pricey, have been great for me on very cold days. I usually only use them below 20 or so (majority of my days in Maine…). I use the Lenz ones with the big battery, which I got from a euro site last szn. I haven’t tried the boot cap thing, and I don’t see how it can be much better than some duct tape on the same spot.

I’ll sometimes use a boot glove too if the snow is hard, but don’t like them in soft snow as sometimes the snow works its way inside the glove, which causes cold and wet feet.


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Agree, Lenz Toecap 5.1 or 6.1 (6.1 is thinner and has compression) with the 2,000 Ah battery is the best and most expensive solution. Depends on how much you ski and how much cold toes bother you.

[waxloaf]

Yep, I'm in the Lenz 6.1 and they are great. I wear the smartwool zero-cushion socks when I'm not using the Lenz and the fit is very similar - toe box on the lenz is a touch bulkier and stiffer due to the heating elements, but not by much.

BTW - I checked my old emails and I got mine from Tesma Sport last year. Not sure if they still have good sales on them (or how they are handling tariffs), but worth a look.

[zion zig zag]

I went with the Thermic Sidas SET socks. Very thin, at least as thin as my thinnest ski socks. I have mild Reynauds and it's the only thing I've found that allows me to safely tour. With the Reynauds I wish I had a baseline, but I can get dangerously cold toes at 5 degrees or 25 degrees.

[XXX-er]

before i got hottronix socks I was using the stick-on toe warmers and they worked great, stick them on top of the toes I buy them by the box and always have a few in ski jacket pockets

in ski gloves the toe warmers work > than glove warmers cuz you can stick them to the inside top of the glove so they don't fall out

somehow I don't get cold feet touring so I use nothing but Intuition liners in all the boots

but everyone is different

[focus]

Heated insoles. I never have to check out of a good day that cost me $$$$ between travel, pass, and opportunity costs due to cold toes anymore, and isn’t that what it’s really about?

One of the few items in my kit that more than pays for itself in objective terms.

[gregL]

I went with the Thermic Sidas SET socks. Very thin, at least as thin as my thinnest ski socks. I have mild Reynauds and it's the only thing I've found that allows me to safely tour. With the Reynauds I wish I had a baseline, but I can get dangerously cold toes at 5 degrees or 25 degrees.

I have a pair or Race SET as well as the Lenz; they are very thin but nowhere near as warm as the Lenz. I only use them when necessary (race boots).

[gregL]

Heated insoles. I never have to check out of a good day that cost me $$$$ between travel, pass, and opportunity costs due to cold toes anymore, and isn’t that what it’s really about?

One of the few items in my kit that more than pays for itself in objective terms.

After having two batteries smashed by hot incoming chairs (and especially if you have multiple pairs of boots llke I do) the socks become more and more appealing. The Lenz sock batteries fold into the cuff of the sock on the side, not the back of the shell.

[altacoup]

I’ve been rocking heated insoles for a while now. Absolutely love them. First day with them and I was thinking why in the world I hadn’t bought them earlier. Socks seem great but I ski almost everyday of the winter, so owning that many socks isn’t feasible nor is constantly cleaning them. I do use the cheap Costco socks for cold tours. Heated insoles don’t work in touring boots as the cable doesn’t work with walk mode. On super cold days I’ll throw the boot glove on top and maybe even add a little hottie between the boot glove and boot. I always cut out parts of the boot glove to access buckles. I’ve tried the boot cap, it does help a little bit. However they don’t last. If your resort has any bootpacking areas they get absolutely trashed.


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[XXX-er]

forgot about boot gloves they help really good with chemical toe warmers, when they get cut up fix with contact cement & or AQS

edit: probably the most bang for your buck would be the chemical toe warmers, buy them by the carton